Running head: TEACHER TECH TRAINING !

Teacher Tech Training

Project Description

Kelleth Chinn

California State University, Monterey Bay

October 6, 2017

IST522 Instructional Design

Dr. Jeanne Farrington

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Teacher Tech Training: Project Description

The technology leadership team at Chabot Elementary School (K-5) in Oakland has been

tasked with increasing and improving the use of technology in the classroom. Chabot Elementary

is part of the Oakland Unified School District, and has 22 classroom teachers and approximately

570 students. The technology directive from the principal and Parent Teacher Association does

not outline specific methods and goals, but instead has given the tech leaders a broader objective

of boosting implementation of technology school-wide in order to improve academic

performance for all students. The tech team has been given significant latitude to formulate its

own plan to achieve this objective.

Summary of Needs Assessment

The Needs Assessment for this training project was conducted through an online

survey and follow-up interviews with teachers. The purpose of this assessment was determine if

teacher training is necessary, and if so what kind of training. The survey revealed that most

teachers feel that they do not have sufficient support and/or training to use technology in their

instruction. 64 percent of teachers said that they somewhat disagree or strongly disagree with the

statement I have adequate technical support and training to effectively implement technology in

the classroom. Most teachers (76 percent) did agree that technology can improve equitable

outcomes for all students, indicating relatively strong support for the use of tech in the

classroom. In follow up interviews with individual teachers, many teachers expressed the need
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for personalized, one-on-one training to walk them through the steps of using specific software

programs.

A significant finding of the needs assessment was that the teachers of kindergarten (and

to some extent first grade) were unsure about the need to implement technology in the classroom

at all. This finding prompted a discussion among the tech leadership team about the training

projects relevance to these lower grades.

In the case of kindergarten teachers, the team decided that it is not necessary to

implement technology as a classroom learning tool for students. In other words, there is no need

to have kindergarten students on computers or mobile devices, except perhaps in cases in which

individual students need some type of intervention. Also, kindergarten teachers do not need

technology to teach content in front of the class. Some areas in which kindergarten teachers can

potentially benefit from the use of technology are teacher admin, collaboration and

communication. These same considerations apply to the case of first grade, although it was

decided that first grade students may benefit from the use of computers or other devices,

especially in the latter part of the school year, when their cognitive and fine motor skills are more

developed.

The upshot of the discussion about these two lower grades is that it is important to be

mindful about how were designing training workshops, so that kindergarten and first grade

teachers are not required to spend time attending sessions that have no bearing on their

professional development. We plan to make sure that these teachers have other options when

necessary. Those options might include professional development time to learn how to use
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technology for admin, parent communication, or team collaboration. In some cases, they might

be given the option to work on non-technology related professional development.

Goals and Background

When considering the goals of this teacher training project, it is important to

consider the broader vision of technology as a means to improve outcomes for our students. Our

school is currently placing an emphasis on personalized learning - a philosophy that is based on

the recognition that different students learn in different ways and at different speeds (Walker,

2017). We have found that technology can be used to help personalize learning for our students

at Chabot. Technology offers tools to differentiate instruction so that students can learn at their

own level and pace. Additionally, technology allows teachers to get quick feedback and identify

learning gaps that need to be addressed. This feedback helps teachers decide when and how to

implement specific interventions to close the gaps (Hobgood, 2011).

The problem is that many teachers at do not have adequate training to use technology

effectively to for this purpose. The great majority of an elementary school teachers time is spent

teaching and supervising the class, and the remainder of their work time is mostly spent on

planning lessons and other administrative tasks. Many teachers simply lack the time or

motivation to learn how to how implement technology in a way that will have a meaningful

positive outcome for personalized learning in their classrooms.

The overarching goal of the teacher training project, then, is to provide teachers with the

support they need to use software programs in a way that helps them effectively personalize
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learning for their students. If the training is effective for any given software program, the

following criteria should be met:

Teachers should understand the specific program and how it correlates to standards or

learning objectives.

They should be familiar with the student interface of the software program, and they

should know how to train their students to use the program.

They should know how to use the data provided by the program as a meaningful

assessment tool to help them form small learning groups or implement intervention as

needed.

Despite the latitude granted by the technology directive, it is important to have a tangible

metric to measure whether the team is meeting the goal of providing teachers with appropriate

support. The technology team feels that by the end of the 2017-18 school year, 100 percent of

second, third, fourth and fifth grade teachers should be able to demonstrate that they have

learned how to use at least one new software program, as defined by the criteria above. In

addition, all kindergarten and first grade teachers should be interviewed twice during the school

year to ask about their specific needs or concerns. These needs, which may include training,

devices (projectors, document cameras, etc.) should be documented and addressed by the team

and communicated to the principal.

The Learners

The learners of this project are the 22 elementary school teachers at Chabot. The needs

assessment has helped us determine that we really need to split the teachers into two groups, with

the second through fifth grade teachers being our primary training group. These 14 teachers all
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have experience using student Chromebook computers in their classroom. They have all used at

least one educational software program in the classroom. What varies is the amount of expertise

in using these programs. Some teachers are able to get their students signed in and using the

programs, but they have difficulty adjusting settings or selecting options within the programs.

Some of them also have trouble accessing and analyzing the data provided by the programs.

The secondary training group, the eight kindergarten and first grade teachers, have limited or

no experience using student computers or mobile devices in the classrooms. With the exception

of one first grade teacher, they have expressed little interest in using technology in this way.

Some of the teachers are interested in using technology to teach content, i.e. using a computer

and projector, and they may already be doing so. Some of the teachers need some assistance

with basic logistics such as audio/video connections or cable management.

Logistical Information

The Teacher Tech Training project faces a challenge of limited time and resources. The only

time available is during non-instructional teacher hours and time set aside for professional

development (approximately one hour per week). Both of these times already have competition

from other demands. The three teachers on the tech team are being paid a nominal stipend, and

they already have a full workload. As a result, the Teacher Tech Training will be flexibly

implemented in three different formats: 1) training workshops; 2) personalized, one on one

training; and 3) virtual learning content.

The project will hold an initial training workshop at a weekly teachers professional

development session. The purpose of the workshop is to train teachers to get started with one
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software program of their choice. Teachers have already been surveyed to gauge their interest in

specific programs. Using the survey results, the team will select three programs, and teachers

will be able to attend one of three breakout sessions at the workshop to learn about the program

of their choice. The session leaders will then give a brief overview of the program, using a

computer and projector, will show teachers how to set up their rosters, and will show teachers

how to access and analyze data provided by the program. After this initial training workshop, the

team will analyze the results and schedule initial workshops as needed.

The team members are also available for personalized, one-on-one training. Teachers may

request individual meetings to help with setup, administration or data analysis. They may also

have team members come into their classrooms and demo how to use the software as a guest

teacher. If teachers need help with equipment or logistical concerns, the team is available to

consult and make recommendations.

Finally, the team will create virtual learning content that is customized for the teaching

training project. It is likely that some teachers will not be able to attend all of their preferred

training sessions at the training workshop. It is also possible that teachers may need to learn or

review content at their own pace. For these reasons, the team will create an online document or

web page for each software program. The online document will include both written

documentation and video screencasts to walk teachers through the steps of setting up their

rosters, teaching students to use the program, and utilizing the data to enhance and inform

instruction.
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References

Walker, T. (2017, June 15). Inclusion in the 21st-century classroom: Differentiating with

Technology. Retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2017/06/09/personalized-learning/

Hobgood, B. (2011, October 12). As More Schools Look to Personalized Learning, Teaching

May Be About to Change. Retrieved from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/every-

learner/6776